Bank of America Upgrades Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL) to “Buy”

Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $18.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $12.00. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 51.90% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on CADL. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Candel Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.14.

Candel Therapeutics Price Performance

CADL stock opened at $11.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $906.76 million, a P/E ratio of -8.40 and a beta of -0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 16.09 and a current ratio of 16.09. Candel Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $4.35 and a 52-week high of $14.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.70.

Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.28). Research analysts expect that Candel Therapeutics will post -1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Candel Therapeutics

In related news, CTO Seshu Tyagarajan sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 76,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $922,380. This represents a 8.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Francesca Barone sold 23,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total transaction of $235,876.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,362 shares in the company, valued at $778,261.72. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,447 shares of company stock worth $390,017. 14.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CADL. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Candel Therapeutics by 12.6% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in Candel Therapeutics by 25.3% in the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 30,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 6,065 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Candel Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $63,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Candel Therapeutics by 15.3% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Candel Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 13.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Candel Therapeutics

Candel Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing multimodal biological immunotherapies designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and attack cancer. The company focuses on engineered viruses administered directly into tumors, with the goal of creating a localized immune response that may also affect cancer cells elsewhere in the body.

Candel’s pipeline includes CAN-2409, an investigational, replication-defective adenovirus-based immunotherapy being studied in cancers including localized prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.